Black Group To Look Into Man's Death Deland Officers Shot Him 4 Times As He Ran Away

February 27, 1986|By Rick Tonyan of The Sentinel Staff

DELAND — Leaders of a civil rights group are trying to form a citizens committee to investigate the death of a man who was shot while running from police.

The man, Charlie Brown Jr., was a member of the DeLand group, called United Veterans for Freedom. Several members said they knew Brown most of his life and that police allegations that he fought with officers before running would be out of character.

Brown, 34, a black, died early Tuesday. The two police officers involved in the shooting, William Michael Wilson, 28, and John J. Provenzano, 26, are white.

Early autopsy results released Wednesday show that Brown was shot four times, police said. The fatal bullet entered his left side and went through his chest and abdomen. He also was shot in the back of the right leg, the front of the left leg and in the left buttock. The autopsy also said Brown had a 1 3/4-inch cut on his forehead caused by a blow.

''We black people are getting tired . . .,'' said David Watts, executive vice president of the group. ''Black people get killed and nobody does anything.''

Watts, 57, said Brown ''was raised right in my neighborhood. He was a pretty fine boy.''

Group leaders are trying to organize black community leaders, including educators, business people and ministers, into an investigative committee. They say they hope to have the committee formed by next week.

The committee would try to oversee investigations of the shooting by the police department, state attorney's office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement. United Veterans members say they want a grand jury probe of the incident.

If the investigation shows that the shooting was not justified, the group would push for prosecution of the case and the resignation of any police officers involved, said Reuben Butler, group founder and president.

The group will use its contacts in the black community to locate a second person who police say was with Brown before the shooting, Butler said. He said United Veterans has not talked to police or city officials.

The group was started mostly as a black veterans group but has expanded into other civil rights and social service areas, Butler said.

Police say the shooting happened after Wilson and Provenzano tried to question two suspicious-looking people in a neighborhood where a car was burglarized.

Butler said Brown might have become frightened when police stopped him, but he doubted that he would have tried to fight. Brown was a cheerful man who avoided trouble with the law, Butler said.

''Nothing was really serious to Charlie Brown. He was a worker. He always got by with what he had and didn't steal,'' Butler said. ''He could have gotten frightened, but he wasn't the type to go hysterical.''

Wilson, who has been on the force for four years, and Provenzano, who has been an officer for a year, are on administrative leave with pay. Police say taking officers off duty after a shooting is routine in DeLand while a shooting is under investigation.

The officers' report of the incident has not been released although such reports routinely are available.

Police Maj. Charles Thurmond and Lt. Alan Elliot said the officers fired fewer than 12 shots, but they would not say exactly how many were fired.

Thurmond said Brown was riding a bicycle and another person was walking beside him when they were stopped by Wilson near East Hubbard and Alabama avenues. Provenzano was investigating the car burglary but came to back up Wilson, Thurmond said.

The man on foot ran as the officers approached, Thurmond said. The other man climbed off the bicycle and an argument began. Thurmond said he did not know if the officers or the man spoke first.

Thurmond said the man began to scuffle with the officers, grabbed Provenzano's nighstick and hit Wilson in the head with it. The man also tried to grab Provenzano's gun before he broke away from the officers and ran, Thurmond said.

Elliot said Brown fell about 100 feet from where the fight started, although he was not sure how far away the officers were when they began shooting. Brown died in West Volusia Memorial Hospital about a half-hour later.